1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing diversity in frequency utilization in a wireless local area network (WLAN) using dynamic frequency selection (DFS) to allow frequency hopping among a subset of available frequency channels.
2. Description of Related Art
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standard for wireless local area networks (WLAN), from the Broadband Radio Access Networks (BRAN) project, is contained in the HIgh PErformance Radio Local Area Network Type 2 (HIPERLAN2) specification and available at the institute's world-wide-web site In general, there are two variants of WLANs: the infrastructure-based type and the ad-hoc type. In the former type of network, communication typically takes place only between the wireless nodes, called mobile terminals (MT) or stations, and an access point (AP). An AP is a device that is responsible for the centralized control of the resources in a radio cell and is generally connected to a fixed (i.e., not wireless) network. In the ad-hoc type of network, communication takes place between the wireless nodes, with one of the MTs, referred to as a Central Controller (CC), providing control functionality equivalent to that of an AP. The MTs and the AP, which are within the same radio coverage area, are referred to together as a cell.
The HIPERLAN2 standard includes a radio resource management feature called “Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS),” which allows equal usage of available frequencies with the intended effect of avoiding the interference of other devices using the same spectrum. The interference may arise from neighboring HIPERLAN2 networks using the same frequency or non-HIPERLAN2 devices in the frequency band. For example, when two adjacent CELLs are located close to each other and operate at the same channel, which are referred to as overlapping cells, it is difficult to support the required quality-of-service (QoS) due to the possible mutual interference between the overlapping cells.
In addition, other co-located systems (for example, wireless device as set forth in the International Standard ISO/IEC 8802-11. “Information Technology—Telecommunications and information exchange area networks,” 1999 Edition) near a particular MT, may cause reception interference. It is not always possible to avoid interference by either eliminating non-WLAN devices or even carefully planning channel allocations to cells before the WLAN deployment, especially where other WLAN and non-WLAN devices are operating independently in the vicinity, for example, in the neighboring houses or offices.
Currently, one solution to avoid interference is to have every AP/CC constantly collects measurement results and, when interference is detected, chooses an operating frequency based on the measured results, with the decision being done independently of other APs/CCs. However, there is often a delay between the detection of the interference and the switching of the AP/CC and the Mobile Terminals (MTs) to the new frequency. Thus, QoS is not consistently maintained as the system is only reactive to problems and it takes time for all the devices in the cell to switch over.
Thus it is desirable to provide a proactive system of DFS to provide a broad level of frequency diversity that can improve the quality of communication in the WLAN that supplements the current reactive system of DFS.